The present invention concerns periodic temporal signals the configuration of which over a time period is defined by an arrangement of seed patterns of different types resulting from a recursive construction using successively applied recurrent pattern element composition laws generating on each new iteration progressively more complex patterns. Generally speaking, the configuration over a time period of a temporal signal resulting from this kind of branching construction may be considered as a component "a.sub.n " of the Nth term Un with m components (a.sub.n, b.sub.n, c.sub.n, etc) of a recurrent sequence, this nth term being defined at the level of each of its components (a.sub.n, b.sub.n, c.sub.n, etc) according to the components (a.sub.(n-1), b.sub.(n-1), c.sub.(n-1), etc) of the preceding term U.sub.n-1 by the arrangements of the recurrent pattern type composition laws and the initial term Uo of the sequence having for its components (a.sub.0, b.sub.0, c.sub.0, etc) the seed patterns.
The branching construction process makes it possible to increase the complexity of the pattern obtained from one iteration to another extremely quickly. It produces after very few iterations a signal pattern having the general appearance of noise although it is in fact highly structured and has complex self-simulating properties resulting from the iteration process. Because of these characteristics the resultant temporal signal finds beneficial applications in varied techniques including vibration testing, transducers and stimulators, deposition of electrochemical layers using pulsed current, chemical synthesis of disordered systems, optical modulation, etc.
Signals known by the general name fractal temporal signals result from branching constructions of this kind.
An object of the present invention is a periodic temporal signal generator making it possible to generate very quickly a great diversity of periodic signals having a period with a recursive structure of the aforementioned type.